Fates of the Miasmic Past
by animefollower101
Summary: 200 years after Kagome's 1st trip to the past, war wiped out most of the Earth's population, advancements, and documented history. When select groups start digging into Earth's past, they discover mysteries that should have stayed buried in time.
1. Assignment

Alright, here's an idea i had brewing in my head for the past week. Of course, it will be a romantic fiction with Naraku, but i think it will have a more...unique perspective on it.

**The setting is a little bit into the future; past our present day. it's a little Science Fiction mixed into the inuyasha story. It will involve time travel (something that Inuyasha fans should be used to when it come to Kagome).**

**WARNING ::::::This story may contain the use of tobacco and possibly alcohol substances. Mild to moderate language included.**

* * *

_*****PROLOGUE*****_

_Once upon a time, Earth was self-sustaining. When a volcano erupted and ashes would blanket the sky, the planet would clean itself up. The short lived destruction of the molten earth would soon settle itself and become newly fertilized soil for the surrounding life forms to rebuild themselves upon. Life; always breaking itself only to reform once again..._

_After two hundred years of struggle, humanity has finally corrected their global destruction of resources (uses of oil, garbage build up, etc.). It took nearly a century of war to finally open the eyes of surviving world powers that fighting over resources wasn't necessary anymore; the population of the world has declined almost back to the 1500s._

_Human culture has recessed back where it was 800 years ago and all technological advancements in weaponry were lost._

_There is an underground movement that recovers lost history and artifacts. It is an all female elite group of intelligence. They have no sponsorship, no ownership, and no restrictions. Ethics run this organization and each department focuses on select areas around the globe. Whatever their mission may be, all branches use a singular,common tool of retrieval;_

_Time Travel_

* * *

-_Team members and tasks_-

Enkotsu; 25; Leader of the four person task force. Although versed in all areas of survival and interaction for the time traveling squads (as are all the team members), her specialty is hunt and collections of artifacts, objects, and biological samples.

Scarlett; 20, she is the team's navigator. She is in charge of knowing exactly where the team is at any given time. She also assists in tracking animals and demons for certain tasks.

Ruslana; 23, her official title is Weapons Expert. She acts as a body guard to the group and also instructs security for their base fort, Corroboro.

Marcella; 17, records artifact findings, documents historical events, runs inventory for Fort Corroboro and specializes in language translation.

* * *

_***Chapter 1***_

It will be 20 minutes until Enkotsu's team is set to return to the marvel that is Feudal Era Japan. She left the three others of her crew to pack their previsions and personal gear for their assigned tasks. Enkotsu always had her equipment prepared, so she had time to step outside the warehouse for a smoke. As the group leader fumbled in her pockets for her cigarettes the Linguistic Journalist of her team stepped out of the back door, too.

"Marcella, you should be getting your notebooks together," Enkotsu told her as she put a tabacco twig between her lips

"I gathered my supplies last night,... as you probably did, too." she spoke

Enkotsu responded with a "hn." and lit her cig with a match out of the book she always seems to carry. After her first inhale and release, Enkotsu looked over the girl next to her.

Marcella was a small girl for the age of seventeen. She was tall, but has the body of a partly developed adolescent; everything is there, but just smaller than normal. Her reddish-brown hair flowed down to her lower back and she always pulled some of it into long pigtails on each side of the crown of her head. Marcella's fair skin freckled a little bit over her nose and cheek bones. That detail coupled with her soft, brown eyes, gave an innocent look to her person. If it wasn't for her light, lady voice and slight physique, she could have been mistaken for an tall child. All in all, she still is quite young for the field work she does so well.

"...May i ask what is the state our latest mission?" Marcella spoke again

"Collections," Enkotsu answered "We are just collecting samples of fauna..." she paused and smiled. Marcella looked at her tilting her head in curiousity; another childish mannerism. "the kind of fauna that keeps you at the fort."

The young documentor groaned in frustration. "Why am i even going back if you won't let me go out demon hunting with you guys?" she asked

Enkotsu stamped out her barely smoldered cigarette and dropped it in the water bucket full of smoke ashes. She turned to Marcella and gave her a mock puppy face.

"It's because we love you and don't want you to be left behind."

Enkotsu laughed at her teammate's glare and patted her on the back. "You have some new projects to get to. You know, keeping track of what we trade to the nearby villages."

Marcella groaned again at the idea. She was always stuck with inventory duty whenever the rest of her group was out dealing with demons. Enkotsu was resistant to even have her join their group because Marcella was fifteen at the time. Although she proved herself useful, Enkotsu is still uncomfortable having her around any danger.

"Come on," Enkotsu said "Let's go change into our traditional attire."

The two ladies stepped inside the warehouse from the concrete patio and the metal door was pulled shut with a thud and latch.

* * *

_At Fort Corroboro; 12 hours later*_

"Ahh! i hate how slow it takes to get resettled!" Ruslana groaned, throwing her bag onto her bunk

"You brought down a 20 meter snake demon on our way here," Scarlett added, calmly "You don't need to be such a brute."

"Excuse me?" Ruslana, turned around, hands on her hips

Scarlett just ignored her travel companion as she set her bag down on the lower bunk across the room. Scarlett slipped her boots off with gentle grace and set them at the end of her bed. Then she asked nonchalantly "How long do you think we will be here this time?"

"How the hell am i suppose to know?" Ruslana burst out "Last time we were scheduled for 3 weeks and were stuck here for 2 months!"

"That was because back home there were civilian riots in the towns close to the base." Marcella added, just walking in.

Her nose was in a book, a normal habit for her when they first arrive because she unpacks so quickly. She had swapped her pigtails for a braid and was already in one of the traditional Japenese garbs they had to wear when in this era. Without looking up from her novel, Marcella grabbed the nearest bed post and swung her herself onto the edge of the bed next to Scarlett, who was now cleaning the mud off one of her boots. Ruslana dropped herself onto her mattress and looked hard at their guest.

"Leave it to the historian to write _everything _down," Ruslana grumbled "So, any word on when we will take our leave?"

Marcella held up one finger to pause her crew mate. She concentrated on her book and mouthed the last words as she finished the paragraph she was on. When Marcella finished her expression softened and she placed a red silk ribbon in the book to mark her place.

"Enkotsu hasn't told me a thing," she answered "but I doubt she will want to start anything before tomorrow. I mean our trip here took a lot longer without the wagon to pick us up." Marcella furrowed her brow "And I'm not a Historian, Lana. I'm a Linguistic Journalist."

"Whatever!" Lana rolled out on her back and groaned. "I guess this will be home for a while." She sighed

"And what's wrong with that?" Scarlett asked as she set a cleaned boot onto the floor and picked up the other.

Ruslana rolled her eyes and sat up. "Open your eyes, Scarlett!" she said "Seventy percent of the fort is underground. Our quarters is a twelve by 8 foot cement block built to sleep four people! I just want to be allowed to reside in the decoy inn above. I want to have more access outside."

"Well, maybe you would be considered for assignment to one of those rooms if you were to act less like a brute." Marcella answered. This made Scarlett snicker and Lana gaze heat up.

"Don't you have inventory that you need to start checking, Marcella?" she retorted "Just because we don't start our job 'till tomorrow doesn't mean you have to wait."

Marcella's face turned red with anger as Ruslana gave a smug grin. So the young journalist tucked her book under her arm, turned her nose up with and left the room in h huff. All the while, Scarlett never looked up from her shoe polishing. Ruslana knew Marcella didn't hate doing inventory, she just stabbed back with the reminder that her teammate wasn't allowed in the field with demons.

"You know that wasn't necessary," Scarlett replied, still not looking up. "You just proved her point."

"And yours, apparently" Lana lied back again and sighed "Aren't you frustrated from staying in this hole in the ground?"

"Not really," Scarlett answered "I feel safe down here." She put her finished boot down by its mate and finally looked at her friend. "I'm also thankful for whatever i recieve."

"Don't peg me as an ungrateful swine." Lana said "It's just after our mini winter-over last time, i got tried of these four grey walls. I wasn't expecting to be back until next autumn."

"...And here we are, back not even a month later." Scarlett added in a sad tone.

This time both of the ladies sighed. Then a silence fell over both of them as each thought about the tracking hunt that will ensue the next morning.

* * *

*the next morning*

Enkotsu was organizing a request for a list of new lab equipment for her team when Marcella burst through the office double doors.

"Good morning!" she called, making her teammate jump "I brought breakfast!"

Enkotsu settled her nerves from the sudden outburst and set the stack of papers in her desk drawer.

"You really need to stop doing that. You know how serious i get when paperwork is involved." she said

"Stop doing what?" Marcella asked "feeding you?"

"Jumping out at me," Enkotsu corrected, refraining irritation "Last time you did that i spilled tea all over the Species Analysis report i was working on after our run in with the Birds of Paradise...How can you be so cheery in the morning anyway?"

"How come you're not?" Marcella countered "Isn't it just great to be alive?"

Enkotsu stared at her friend with lazy eyes and a raised eyebrow. Marcella poured a glass of water for both of them, completely ignoring Enkotsu. When she divided the food between them and settled herself in, Enkotsu finally spoke.

"Our mission has been altered from tracking species to knowledge collections." she informed

"Oh?" Marcella responded, intrigued

"We will be studying the aftermath of a half demon called Naraku."

"I have heard of him."

"So, are you packed?"

Marcella choked on some water. She looked at her friend with surprise. "Are you saying that I can go on fieldwork with you guys?"

Enkotsu raised her hand "We are not confronting the creature. We are just merely going to where we know he has visited, build up his own profile in the database."

Without even asking to be dismissed, Marcella ran out the office doors in childish delight. Enkotsu shook her head, 'S_o much for breakfast together.' _she thought. The leader leaned back in her chair and stared at the high, vaulted ceiling. A sigh passed her lips and she spoke out loud "Why do I have a feeling it may not be the best idea to let her go?"

* * *

**Alright people please review and private message me! i MUST know if this Naraku idea has any substance. I can tell you, he is one of the hardest Inuyasha characters to make a love story about. Also, please tell me which of the four ladies do you think should be the star role. I have a few ideas, but this is a story i want run by what my readers want.**

**Catch ya later,**

**AF101**


	2. Observation

**ok, Chapter two, read and review please! sorry, for the long wait and i have GOOD NEWS!**

**Those of you who have subscribed to me and/or my other inuyasha fanfiction _'Angel of Two Worlds,'_ YES i have NOTforgotten about it! Unbeknownst to you all, i have been picking at it for quite a while and a massive chapter coming up. It's most likely going to be over 10,000 words, which is god-like with my patience (hence, i think over a year since i put anything up). I was tired of waiting to put Sesshomaru into the story, but i have ALOTof things i wanted to cover before putting him in. So, Ta-da, one chapter i couldn't bring myself to separate. so, i apologize for anyone who subscribed and forgot that i exsist with my long time in the shadowed back room of Fanfiction.**

**So, anyway, enjoy! ^_^**

* * *

~~Subcribers, please read the note above~~

Corroboro was partially modeled after the notorious Demon Slayer's village. It had tall, sharpened logs forming staked walls around the ground level compound at the size a city block. An inn was center to the fort surrounded by small huts for houses. Most of those assigned to upper ground living quarters were stationed in the inn. However, according to safety protocols, only huts that were within 20 yards of an enterance into the base could be used as actual resident housing. The others were either storage, covering hatches to the underground, or just decoys. Those living above ground were mostly Agriculture and Historical Culture divisions, learning to live in a village setting. However, the grounds are open to any member's housing application.

Throughout the morning Marcella was in a high spirit. She wore a smile as she shuffled back and forth nearly half of the Corroboro underground, taking care of errends before the mission. She ran into Ruslana a couple times during her rounds and noticed she was still in a sour mood over their early return. Even the sighs and eye rolls from her crewmate didn't break her excitment. Of course, being the professional she is striving to have her team leader see, Marcella had her nerves settled by the time they were scheduled to leave the compound. She arrived promptly at 8:30 in the morning, but still was the last to arrive aboveground.

Scarlett was quickly looking over a map that was stamped "in-base" use only. Ruslana was listening intently to the navigator as she explained what dangers may be in which areas along of routes. Ruslana was darkening a little under her eyes, a clear sign that the frustration of being back in her 'hole in the ground' didn't help her sleep the night before. Enkotsu was the only one who seemed to actually be waiting for Marcella to imerge from one of the hidden gates. All of the crew were wearing traditional Feudel attire of the middle class, colored garments but simply made. All their equipment was well concealed in carrying baskets or on their person. Each crewmate carried her own gear; Ruslana's weapons, Marcella's journals Scarlett's navigation equipment, and Enkotsu's forensic suppiles. Beyond that was one extra outfit, one water container, and a sleep sack.

When Marcella emmerged from one of the gardens' gates, the leader acknowledged Marcella's arrival with a nod. "Are you sure you have all of your previous work set where it needs to be?" Enkotsu asked the young journalist

"I've got a friend in the Local Trading Department covering my inventory checks this week, our security passcodes have been incripted until our return, and i rejected my invitation to stewpot night with the people working in Archives," Marcella's face dropped a little "...again."

"Well, you chose field work." Scarlett remarked, handing off her map to a passerby "They should understand."

"Hopefully," Ruslana added "Or your little friendships will get even harder as you advance."

Marcella sighed at the prospect, but new it held truth. She was grooming herself into expedition work, but sadly few of her close fellow peers shared her passion for the field. When the group loaded their gear onto their backs, Enkotsu waved a signal to the south watchtower and a section of the wall opened. Any individuals in the compound ignored the group, save the occassional trainee sneeking a glance as they scurry about doing their various chores. The departure was swift and quiet with the routine, but once the fort wall collapsed back down, Marcella broke the silence.

"Where do we start?" she asked, generally

Scarlett was the one to answer. "Our first stop is two days from now," Marcella pulled out her notepad and began taking notes "It's in the Forest of Inuyasha."

"But we must be on our toes," Ruslana added "If only we had the luxury of just dealing with lower demons. We also have to keep our cover because a human village is close by."

"Alright," Marcella said, not looking away from her notes "And what is the purpose of going to that location?"

"Naraku left a nasty mark there." Enkotsu's face was serious "A charred, black crater was left behind in the forest. It's been rumored that the vegetation seems to even slow its recovery there."

"Like it fears the grounds itself." Scarlett replied, ominously

Marcella kept a straight face as she finished her notes, but inside her excitment was bubbling again. Last time she was on a knowlege collections, it was to catagorize medicinal herbs. This seemed to be unfolding into something alot more interesting. Although it's standard to use caution on missions, the mystery of this one was becomeing a thrill. Marcella's face began it pinken a little in the excitement, but she kept her face stern. Ruslana on the other hand, showed awareness that went clear to the bone. Her hand rested on the handle of her throwing axe, as if she were expecting an ambush.

* * *

A violet haze covered the grounds as a barrier held in a massive amount of miasma. A palace as lifeless as a graveyard stood high and strong in the clouds of poison. In one of its various rooms stood seven wood dolls, each with a single strand of black hair wrapped around them. Three of these dolls were split in half as if something ran them through from shoulder to hip. In another corner of that room, on the windowbench, sat a man staring outside. His blood red eyes seem pour intense concentration to something beyond the sinister fog lingering on the other side of the walls.

As if birthed from the shadows itself, a ghostly being stepped forth from an unseen doorway. She looked no older than eight years and had white hair with a kimono to match. Her eyes were dark and dull, and she held a dismal looking mirror, one arm rested on top and the other supported it from the bottom.

The man turned his attention to the ghostly child "Kanna..." His voice spoke, low and dark.

"Master Naraku, new persuers have made themselves known." Kanna replied, barely above a whisper

"Show them to me." Naraku ordered, his tone still calm

Kanna knelt down a few feet from her master. She barely tilted her mirror upward, as if to catch Naraku's image. The reflective surface fogged and came into focus again, revealing a forest. Then the image adjusted to four young women resting and looking through the bags they carried. At first Naraku didn't seem concerned about a group of humans, but Kanna's interruption soon became valid. One of them was looking over the edge of the blackened hole left by a demonic force. This immediately grabbed Naraku's attention as he remembered that place was where he and Inuyasha first met face-to-face; when he released a cloud of destruction.

_"Ok, ladies. Let's begin by cataloging the size of this crater." _the observer said

_"Yes, boss." _One of the others answered, sarcastically

Naraku leaned back against the wall and the image faded from the mirror. Kanna pulled the mirror back into its original hold against her torso.

Naraku didn't need to ask what they were looking for. It was obvious that the small group went to that location deliberately. With that being certain, Naraku felt he had to find out if this was a mere inquiry of the forest or if they were somehow tracking his movements.

"Send Kagura to the forest near Kikiyo's old village." Naraku order "Tell her to watch the four women and return with information of what they are doing."

Kanna got up and left without a word. Naraku still wasn't terribly concerned about them, but if they got Kanna's attention then it's worth knowing more about. He went back to his silent watch, his mind occupied with his previous business. Several minutes later a hair-line crack sliced clean through another one of the wooden figures. Naraku looked over at the fallen piece of his puppet, not suprised that the foe he was watching finally cut it down. As Naraku pulled out one of his strands of hair, prepareing to make another doll, his mind wondered back to that far-off forest.

* * *

As the others were setting up their equipment to survey the land, Marcella began to take note of their surroundings. She estimated the diameter of the area in question to be about 3 miles wide, but only 30 feet deep at the very center. Although the land was flat, it still was unnerving to be able to see that far in an otherwise dense woodland. Marcella also wrote down a few names of the hardwoods and ferns she saw and added a sidenote that the birds she heard were only those echoed from far away. It truely facinated her that everything else was thriving while close around the basin was only grass...

"Only grass..." Marcella said aloud

"What was that?" Enkotsu called over. She took a few pictures of the site with a digital camera. This evolutionized model had an attachable computer hardware drives, this one was just slightly smaller than a human palm. Enkotsu snapped the visual media drive onto the bottom of the camera and waited for it to load.

Marcella gestured for Enkotsu to come over, so the leader handed the camera over to Ruslana. The leader kneeled by the edge of the depression as Marcella brushed her pen through the grass. "Do you see that?"

"No." Enkotsu answered

"The grass; it's grown tall around the crater and it's even spilling over the edge." Marcella explained "However, the roots stay on the undisturbed ground. Also the grass falling over seems to keep a distance of 8 to 10 centimeters from any blackened earth. So... what does all that tell you?"

Enkotsu thought for a moment "That... if it was a some kind of toxic chemical, it would have entered the soil and most likely the grass couldn't live this close."

"And if it was a combustion, similar to gunpowder or glycerin compounds, the vegetation would have shown signs of growing back inside the site." the journalist added

"Radiation would have killed the forest completely with it's fallout-"

"So it concludes that this was not work from any outside technology. But the grass still refuses to grow."

"Then it's what we have been suspecting all along?"

Marcella nodded and they both stood. They reunited with the other two who were dicussing the digital map uploaded onto the camera's screen. Part of their conversation was overheard and they were discussing alterations that need to be made when they return. "...mark here for observation. This place needs to be monitored." Scarlett said and Ruslana nodded

"Scarlett, Ruslana. As it has been suspected, this place is the work of demonic energy." Enkotsu annouced "But because of what Marcella observed of the growth in this area, I can assume for now that it is a presence that will disepate overtime."

"Do you still think it wise to set a mark for it on the map?" Scrlett asked

"Absolutely," Marcella replied "I believe checking in on this area could be useful and the impact crater surely made a change, geopraphically speaking. Not only that, but the crater also can be a good measure of power that this Naraku-person may have."

"We won't know for sure what he is capable of," Enkotsu retorted "until we have seenthe other sites. For all we know this could have been his minimum."

"Well, i guess we can get moving." Ruslana stated

It only took a couple minutes for the ladies to have their stuff packed and gone. Although they all thought they needed more rest, it was strict policy that they don't stay in any mission disclosed locations beyond doing their initial task. So, all four of them were back on the main path within the hour and kept moving until nightfall.

Ruslana was tending to their small fire When Enkotsu and Scarlett brought back fish from a nearby stream. They were small but plentiful, so everyone got to skewer four. Marcella was organizing her notes into an entry into her travel log, so Scarlett prepared her portion as well.

_'1st night; Task #1, Death Crater investigation: after a quick land survey, the crater was estimated between 4 or 5 kilometers in diameter, slightly larger than i first thought. According to the map, the site was located 11 kilometers east of our highlighted route. Information recieved before the arrival indicates a small farming village north east of our path by another 4 -'_

"Ella!" Ruslana called, waving "We've got some fish for you too. Get over here and take care of it yourself."

Marcella sighed and slammed her booklet shut. She walked from the tree, resettled herself by the fire and placed her skewer closer to the flame. There was a long, but by no means awkward, silence within the group as they listened to the fire and watched the fish cook. When they finally began to pick at their meal, the conversation began again.

"You know , if everything goes according to plan, we may be back at Corroboro before the supply shipment arrives." Enkotsu said

"Is there anything that will be going back?" Ruslana asked "I'd pack myself in a box just to be able to go home to our time."

The rest of the group sighed in unison. Lana's complaining was really wearing them down, but the whole group felt the same. Their time back home seemed so short that it could have been a dream. The nights seemed warmer than what it was about a month ago, but frost still clung to the ground in the early morning.

"What do you have to go home to?" Scarlett asked

Ruslana had to think for a moment. "The lack of concrete housing for one thing And no demons either."

"What you describe," Scarlett continued, her tone a little harder. She paused, swallowed her irritation, and started again in her usual soft voice "There are no walls where we are now and you know that colony riots back home can be just as dangerous as monsters here."

Ruslana's temper was starting to show through; like this talk was a challenge. "I don't need to hide who i am from the world."

"On the contrary, you can't let anyone outside the facilities know who you are."

Silence blanketed the campsite, but this time there was tension. Enkotsu seemed to be ignoring all of this, fidgeting with her meal by pulling back fish skin and working out the hair-thin bones. Bickering like this wasn't an uncommon sight to her anymore. Scarlett and Ruslana have made a bond that someone could call friendship, but they are very different. Ruslana was headstong, action-oriented, and guarded which gave her a rougher edge. Meanwhile Scarlett a listener, gentle and thinks before she speaks. They work exceptionally well together, but arguements are bound to happen when two people are opposed as they are.

Marcella knew she shouldn't get into this, but cleared her throat anyway. "What about the cabin?" she directed to Lana "That's something you've mentioned a few times."

The silence continued for a few moments longer. Right when Marcella started to feel foolish, she got an answer.

"Lord knows i want to work on my log cabin." Ruslana mumbled, and bit off half of a fish from the skewer.

* * *

Kagura listened behind a tree. She was far enough that a human would barely make out figures in the firelight. Her vision was extraordinary, of course, as well as her hearing. the topic of conversation barely made sense to her, but Kagura understood that group weren't from around here. They mentioned the name of somewhere, Cor-o-boar-o. This word was strange on her tongue, like it was another language. Kagura listened a little while longer, but still nothing much of note. She turned her head slightly, to spy a little better on the whole group. Right as she did so, one of the women obnoxiously bite into her meal. The scowl on her face jumped out in Kagura's mind.

_Ugh, just like that low life Inuyasha. _Kagura thought, a glare flashed through her already moody eyes. Her finger tips were slowly opening her fan, but she stopped herself. Kagura had no idea what Naraku had wanted to know, but she shouldn't risk alarming this group or risk painful punishment from her master.

The young demoness waited a while more, but the group had fallen silent once more. She didn't understand how they could sit so quietly. A time when Kagura was ordered to eavesdrop on the human in Lord Sesshomaru's care, she and the little imp said more to each other than all four of these women combine. Kagura sighed, she wasn't going to spend the whole night watching humans.

So Kagura, the wind demoness, pulled a feather from her hair-tie and summoned the gift of flight. She would head back to Naraku and report what little she learned from the strange band of humans...after using the rest of the night in the sky.

_For i am the wind._

* * *

After everyone finished their dinner, all wood rods were tossed into the fire. A sudden gust of wind blew into the camp, startling everyone. Typically, Ruslana was on her feet assuming the worst. She checked the treeline around their small clearing. She was going to do a third round, but Enkotsu spoke up the first time that evening.

"Lana, settle down." she said "If there was something out there, you would have noticed."

Ruslana absorbed that for a moment and went to take her place by the fire once more. When she relaxed everyone rolled out their sleep sacks. Marcella slipped into the cloth cacoon and looked to Scarlett.

"Might i ask where we are going tomorrow?" she asked

"We will be back tracking a little bit. There is a cave near the human village we spoke of." Scarlett answered "We sort out our destinations by priority, if they are close enough together."

"Keep in mind, we have to keep our ground up," Ruslana added "If stealth fails remember to act like we are only travelers, understand?"

Marcella nodded and had to refrain from rolling her eyes. This wasn't her first field mission, but she felt treated like a child more than usual. It may be that this time, data collections are running too close to demon tracking in her crewmates' eyes. Marcella's age always seemed to play a factor in which missions she can have direct involvement in. Not so much in resent years, but seventeen was still a little girl to the team leader, Enkotsu.

Thinking of their other companion reminded Ella how unusually quiet she has been. Across the campfire, Enkotsu was turned away from the group, she breathing light and steady. She looked like she was asleep, but Marcella called her name anyway. When there was no answer, the documentarist shugged and laid back herself.

Enkotsu ignored her teammate, instead listening to the sounds of the night. The crickets and rustling of the tree branches were soft sounds, almost a lullaby themselves. However, the group leader couldn't find peace of mind to let her sleep. After another small disagreement between Ruslana and Scarlett, she clued into that something felt wrong; everything was too quiet. The breeze was still, all animals silent, and this was almost missed by the light roar and crackle of the campfire. During their silent eating, Enkotsu caught Ruslana cast a few glances in the trees. Scarlett sat poised, nibbling at her fish, looked to be listening, too. When the wind came back with abrupt force, it really made everyone worry. that is, Everyone but Marcella.

Enkotsu exhaled a sigh through her nose. Marcella is still ignorant to her surroundings. Today's observations at the crater site were exceptional, but that doesn't make up for her lack of awareness this evening. Everyone else was able to notice the stillness around the camp, but Marcella. Of course, she is not all to blame. Maybe more field missions like this would be better learning than fort excersises.

Another thought crossed Enkotsu's attention. If the rest of the crew would have found out sooner, Lana and Etta probably would have kept their mouths shut about home. The team leader closed her eyes and mouthed a wish that their group's oblivious behavior had gone unnoticed. It took nearly another hour, when the campfire was a third it's starting size, for Enkotsu to finally drift to sleep.

* * *

**Alright, any readers who are even remotely curious to what 'Corroboro' means: i looked up on a translator that it means 'to strengthen' in Latin. **

**I could be wrong! I get the foreboding feeling that someone is going to comment or message me that it isn't true. However, as far as my knowlege that is what the word means, spelled, and sounds like. I thought it was fitting for a Fortress and thus Fort Corroboro was born.**


End file.
